The Process of Nuclear Power Generation

The birth of nuclear power occurred after the Manhattan Project towards the end of
WWII. The Manhattan Project was a military effort to produce an atomic bomb by
the splitting of an atom. This same process that is used in the atomic bomb is
harnessed and utilized everyday in nuclear reactors around the world. Nuclear
power is the generation of electricity from nuclear energy. This process is fairly
straightforward and easy to understand. As with any electricity production facility,
heat is an essential part of the process. This heat is produced through the fission of
uranium fuel. The heat is then used to boil water and create steam. This steam is
then used to turn a steam turbine generator, producing electricity.

Uranium Fuel
A very important part of
nuclear power is the uranium
fuel. Uranium 235 is a special
uranium isotope that is used
as the fuel for nuclear power.
Uranium is an ideal fuel
because it is an unstable
element and can easily be
split. The Uranium for
nuclear reactors are formed
into small pellets and stacked
into a rod assembly as seen in
Figure 1. These uranium rod
assemblies are then bundled
together and are formed into Figure 1: Uranium Fuel Assembly Diagram
what is called the fuel rod
assembly also seen in Figure 1. This fuel rod assembly is used to create the heat
necessary for electricity production through a process called fission.

Fission
The most important step in the nuclear power production is the fission process.
Within each of these fuel rod assemblies described above, the nuclear fission
process is utilized to create immense amounts of heat. The dictionary defines fission
as the splitting of the nucleus of an atom into nuclei of lighter atoms, accompanied
by the release of energy. In other words, the nucleus of a Uranium 235 atom is split
into two new nuclei of smaller atom sizes. This can be seen in the list below Figure
2.

Figure 2: Nuclear Fission Diagram

The Fission Process:

Step 1: A neutron particle is shot toward a Uranium 235 atom.
Step 2: The Uranium 235 atom absorbs the neutron particle.
Step 3: The Uranium 235 atom begins expanding.
Step 4: The Uranium 235 atom expands to the point of separation.
Step 5: The Uranium 235 atom splits into two smaller atoms, releasing an
immense amount of heat. Also displayed in step 5, more neutron particles are
expelled and go on to split more uranium atoms and creating a chain reaction of
heat production.
This process occurs within each of the fuel rod assemblies and is the cause of the
heat production used within nuclear power plants.
The heat is regulated by the
use of control rods. Control
rods are specially designed
rods that are placed in
between the uranium fuel
rod assemblies and are used
to regulate the rate of
nuclear fission. The way in
which the control rods
regulate the rate of fission is
Figure 3: Control Rod Reactor Assembly
by the absorption of the
neutron particles. The
control rods are placed vertically into the fuel assemblies and are pulled upwards to
create more heat and dropped into the fuel assemblies to create less heat. This can
be seen in Figure 3. As seen in the left image, the control rods are dropped into the
reactor, causing less fission happen and therefore less heat production. In the right

image, the control rods are pulled out of the reactor, which causes more fission to
occur and, therefore, more heat.

Steam and Electricity Production

The diagram below demonstrates the production of electricity from nuclear power.
Figure 4 displays the heat in the reactor vessel is transported to a water vessel
where the water turns into steam because of the intense heat. This steam is then
sent to a steam turbine that rotates because of the steam flow. This mechanical
rotation of the turbine is transferred to electrical energy through the use of a
generator. Through the use of electrical properties, this rotational motion of a
magnet causes an electrical current in surrounding copper, and therefore creates
electricity that is sent to the public. The steam is then sent to a condenser and is
recycled through the process again. The reactor vessel and steam generator, as seen
below, are contained within thick concrete structures.

Figure 4: The Nuclear Power Production Process

The Future of Nuclear Power

Nuclear fission has been used to create electricity since 1942. This technology is
becoming outdated and will be replaced with a new form of nuclear power in the
next 20 years. This new form of nuclear power is utilizing the process of nuclear
fusion.
Where nuclear fission is the splitting of the nucleus of an atom, nuclear fusion is the
joining of two nuclei into on nucleus. Fusion is the reverse process of fission as seen
in Figure 5. This process takes two isotopes of an element and fuses their nuclei
together. This is achieved by speeding up the two isotopes to very fast speeds. When
the isotopes are traveling at very fast speeds, they collide and there is so much
energy that their nuclei fuse together to form one atom. The fusing of the nuclei
produces a very large amount of heat, and this heat is used the same way as the

nuclear power reactors operate now. The heat will turn water to steam, then turn a
turbine and generate electricity like described above. This fusing of nuclei creates
more heat than the fission process and is more environmentally friendly. Nuclear
fusion solves the problem of uranium waste, produces more power, and is the
energy of the future.

Figure 5: Fusion Process

Conclusion
The process of creating nuclear power is, in theory, quite simple. The uranium 235
fuel pellets are assembled into fuel assemblies, then the nucleus of the uranium
atoms are split by the presence of a neutron particle. This fission reaction causes an
intense amount of heat and is controlled by the use of control rods within the
reactor. The heat from the reactor is then transferred to a boiler where water is
changed to steam. The steam is then used to turn a turbine, which then turns a
generator to produce electricity. Nuclear power technology is still in its infancy, and
will continue to grow in the future.

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